Yep! That's right! Seeing as how it's been over a year since the release of the first R6 open beta and I've recently graduated from college, I figured now would be a good time to release the next open beta! Among various other updates - such as improved rifle and pistol animations, and new CTF mechanics - you can try out a demo of the Europa campaign, as well as the new custom HUD that I designed! Here's a trailer (and design process video) for Europa:

Oh, and did I mention that we've added Jack?

She's fully-voiced, she has her art assets and all of her weapons and powers (heavy melee coming soon), and she's a biotic badass!

So yeah, we're gonna need plenty of feedback — especially on Europa — and seeing as how I got a decent amount of it from the previous open betas, I've decided to let you all give things a shot and help debug the mod! (A fourth time!)

Notable new features included in this build:

Europa demo (NEW MAP!) — play the first quarter of the Europa campaign!

Jack (NEW ALLIANCE HERO!) — play as Jack in the Systems Alliance! (tip: set her as the Systems Alliance Hero using the Configuration Utility for easier testing)

Custom HUD — many improvements have been made since the first R6 open beta (build 20626/06)

Deferred Shield Regeneration (for the player only) — when your shields are damaged, it'll take a moment for them to start regenerating! Also included is visual/audio feedback for when your shields break!

Low Health Sounds — when your health is low and you're playing as a non-synthetic class, you'll hear a heartbeat sound and all other sounds will be significantly quieter!

Kill Sounds — a distinctive sound effect will play each time you kill an enemy!

Want a complete list of the changes and additions that are included thus far in this build? View the change log by clicking on the second link below!

To install the build, view the build manifest by following the "DOWNLOAD R6 OPEN BETA!" link above; the build manifest contains everything you need to know about this build. As soon as you have the build manifest open, next to "File Path," follow the link "Standalone Version (R6) (Mediafire)" to download the R6 production build setup file.

If you do decide to play the open beta, I implore you to not just pass up any bugs you encounter as things that "somebody else reported/will probably report," but instead take the 5-10 minutes to report the bugs. It's easy, it doesn't take very much time, and it will help improve the mod. Don't feel obligated to report things, but keep in mind the simple fact that the quality of the mod is largely based on the bugs that are and are not reported.

Yes the 1.3 patch is still required, and yes it's included. As of R6, the patch files (with the 1.2 HUD disabled) are automatically installed with the mod. (In previous releases, the MEU installer would simply run the 1.3 patch installer.)

Awesome, thanks! Patching another Linux desktop now so I can play LAN w/ my bros >:D

EDITSorry for the bump but I'm having a bit of a problem...

The installer for ME:U seems to have completed just fine. However, the config tool's .exe file is always crashing. What libraries are needed to run it?? Is dotnet required? I'm positive this is fixable with enough info. Also, in-game, the music is changed... and thats it. Nothing else changed. No new maps/factions, no new flashy backgrounds.

Im curious, what does the config tool even do? Can the configuration be done manually?? I'll keep looking for a solution. All in all, I really want to play this, so any help is appreciated.

EDIT: IT should be worth noting during install I got some sort of stalled command prompt, with what looked like swbf2 directories and then at the bottom something like "D for directory - F for file" which looked odd so I just closed it. This was during install. I'm using the Steam version of the game; the installer detected this path just fine.

zwyx1234 wrote:However, the config tool's .exe file is always crashing. What libraries are needed to run it?? Is dotnet required?

.NET Framework 4.0 is required.

zwyx1234 wrote:Also, in-game, the music is changed... and thats it. Nothing else changed. No new maps/factions, no new flashy backgrounds.

Is the ME5 folder present in the addon directory?

zwyx1234 wrote:Im curious, what does the config tool even do? Can the configuration be done manually?? I'll keep looking for a solution. All in all, I really want to play this, so any help is appreciated.

zwyx1234 wrote:IT should be worth noting during install I got some sort of stalled command prompt, with what looked like swbf2 directories and then at the bottom something like "D for directory - F for file" which looked odd so I just closed it. This was during install. I'm using the Steam version of the game; the installer detected this path just fine.

The installer runs several batch scripts that perform cleanup and finalization operations. I'm not sure why it would stall.

Alright, thanks for that. But I'm still baffled at the fact that only the ingame music has changed, when all files exist in the correct addon folder. This seriously leaves me scratching my head... I hope to find a fix soon. Any ideas?? I must be missing something obvious.

I'm also wondering... What do the batch files do?? If I could do the things that they do, only manually, it would rule out a possibility. Linux/WINE apparently doesn't play nicely with batch files, hence why I was having soooo much difficulty modding for the Linux/WINE platform and eventually called it quits.

Seeing as how I've never really been satisfied with Eden Prime's lighting, I decided to give it an overhaul. So far the red and cloudy variants have been overhauled. Night overhaul coming soon.

BEFORE / AFTER IMAGES (Red Variant):

Hidden/Spoiler:

BEFORE / AFTER IMAGES (Cloudy Variant):

Hidden/Spoiler:

Changes made:

Added subtle atmospheric fog

Added distant hills to background

Updated distant tower textures

Updated Collector Ship textures

Updated directional and ambient lighting brightness and color

Let me know what you guys think! If you have any suggestions for improvements or changes, please do tell!

Hidden/Spoiler:

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Forgot to post this here, but here's the first pass of the music stingers used in Europa.

_______________________________________________________________

zwyx1234 wrote:Alright, thanks for that. But I'm still baffled at the fact that only the ingame music has changed, when all files exist in the correct addon folder. This seriously leaves me scratching my head... I hope to find a fix soon. Any ideas?? I must be missing something obvious.

Hmm. Could you run the debugger (let's hope that you actually can), go into the Instant Action menu, close the debugger, and then post the contents of the BFront2.log file? Also, would you kindly post a screenshot of the GameData\addon\ME5\data\_LVL_PC\cfg directory?

zwyx1234 wrote:I'm also wondering... What do the batch files do?? If I could do the things that they do, only manually, it would rule out a possibility. Linux/WINE apparently doesn't play nicely with batch files, hence why I was having soooo much difficulty modding for the Linux/WINE platform and eventually called it quits.

*dual-booting intensifies*

flagRecovery.bat essentially "resets" the flag files by deleting them and creating new ones. This could *maybe* contribute to the issue you're having.

installUserScripts.bat installs new user scripts by analyzing the currently installed ones and increments the name of the new ones based on the results. This wouldn't contribute to the issue you're having, though.

(On a semi-related note, it'd be much easier to organize everything and help people out with these kinds of issues if MEU had its own sub-forum. Just sayin'. )

All I can say is wow! I know that texture and modelling wise my map is frankly subpar compared with the other maps in this mod, but it always makes me feel so happy to see it so well taken care of. I'm too busy to do any sort of modding now, but with your background scenery and lighting that map finally looks like it did in my head all those years ago. Thank you Marth, thank you.

You can either download and install the Discord app for Windows/Mac/Android/iOS (and soon Linux) by clicking HERE, or you can use the web app (which is identical in pretty much every way to the desktop app, just less convenient) by clicking HERE.

Once you've created a new account, you can join MEU's server by clicking HERE or on the image below. After you've done so, feel free to introduce yourself!

Last edited by Marth8880 on Thu Mar 16, 2017 11:25 am, edited 2 times in total.